We were talking about this very thing the other day, about how easy it will be, without written words in physical books, to adjust history and change the truth. My son in law made a very salient point...that not only are books in danger of disappearing, but so is information. We google "how to" when we need to know. If that source of information disappears or access is controlled, we will have an entire generation that doesn´t know how to find answers.

Just wait until we see a noted expert interviewed on TV.
Instead of a full bookshelf behind them, we see an empty shelf with a tablet or kindle computer.

And #1, also consider that the definition of intelligence is changing right before our eyes. No longer is intelligence measured by how much information and data one can retain, but rather how quickly one can *access* it.

This article is so 2010.

eBooks have won. If the author cherishes his first editions, he can now proudly display them on uncluttered shelves, not hidden by the 2,500 lesser books he´s amassed. *Those*, he can carry in one hand.

I must be the last person in the US without an e-reader and a smart phone.

#1 ...how easy it will be, without written words in physical books, to adjust history and change the truth.

That´s why I´ve been collecting recommended history books.

I haven´t purchased a kindle or nook book yet... but am tempted as I sit through many sporting practices and travel...

However, I collect books. Scanned books can be altered... as can history with the click of a button.

I do not like the fact our library went away from the Dewey decimal system- to make it easier to find books. Anyway, I too collect history books written before 1950.

No, #5. I join you. I am a devoted and enthusiastic reader of real, physical books and I get along just fine with my basic cellphone which provides me with the ability to receive and send phone calls. I´ve never even used the camera function.

To each his own.

I´ve tried going through this site and I´ve tried going directly to TIME to read the entire article. The article has locked up my newly restored computer 3 times.

Makes me wonder how many posters have gotten all the way through it beyond the first paragraph.

#5, you are not alone!
Ramona (the Pest)

I empathize with some of the Luddite leanings here, yet I suspect the feeling is similar to what 15th-century clerics felt about that J. Gutenberg invention.

L-dotters, rejoice at the good technology brings. There has always been, and always will be, intellectual garbage propelled by new technology along with (and usually ahead of) great stuff like this site.

Whether something is printed in a real book or appears on an e-reader is irrelevant to truth and history. As we have seen in "newspapers" (nytimes/latimes wash.post)and read in innumerable books, distorting and lying about real events is very easy when you have a low-information populace who lack common sense. The vehicle of information is irrelevant. The people reading it that demand the source be held accountable is what is important and missing in today´s world.

I use my Kindle to read the occasional trashy romance or to try a new author I´m not sure is worthy of my limited shelf space. If I like something well enough I buy the hardcover. As for cell phones, well, my old flip up phone died so Mr. Cow bought me an i-phone. It´s a handy way to tell time or to see the date, I love the built in calculator and find texting lists to Mr. Cow when he stops at the store for me a valuable tool. New fangled things aren´t bad, you just have to know how to make it work for you.
Mrs. Cow

I don´t have an e-reader, but I do use Mother´s Kindle from time to time. GREAT space-saver for reading on the go. Otherwise, give me books!!! Love the idea of collecting history books. I don´t have a smart phone, either. Just don´t need one. Might check out the new Blackberry when they come out with their new OS in late January, though.

#9

Site worked fine for me.

As you can see by my name, I am a reader. I have a house full of books and a kindle that is filling up. I like them both. I am determined not to be a luddite and I love the fact that I can carry my kindle with me and read while waiting in the doctor´s office, the auto repair shop and any other place I have to wait. I can then tune out the television which seems to be always set on The View no matter where or what time I am there.

#9, the link works just fine. Perhaps your browser is the problem?

> We were talking about this very thing the other day, about how easy it will be, without written words in physical books, to adjust history and change the truth.

Especially because when you die, all your Amazon books vanish. Your children don´t get your collection, and there is no permanent record.

I love my Kindle. I still buy books, but the Kindle is easy to pick up, stick in my tote bag and head off to the college for the day. It´s easy to set up books in different categories to find them more easily. I have a couple books that I reach for almost every day for inspiration, so they are always with me. My best friend has problems with her eyes, and she is able to adjust the size of the print as needed. I was encouraged to buy one by a friend who is an author....she said she loves hers for travel and being able to take so many books with her.

All of my students have smart phones....when I rehearse with them, it´s actually nice for their ability to record accompaniments for them to use for future practicing on their own. I´m not sure I´m ready to take that step for myself, since I haven´t figured out how to use my old-fashioned flip phone.

Garage sales just won´t be the same when you can no longer poke through a pile of old books.

From some guy who writes for an E-magazine.

Love my Sony E-Reader for travel and have had it for years. Love my hard covers for by the fireplace with the cat and the lap throw. However, I am very suspicious about history being altered with a keystroke, just like our last election was.

Re #5 and #8, ditto.

DH loves his iPad, his e-books and his iPhone. Anything with an i in front of it?

Re #9, I am getting entire article as usual. No problem. Sounds as though you may have a browser and/or firewall problem?

"Mr Penumbra´s 24 Hour Bookstore" addresses these exact questions on a grander scale, within the setting of a quirky and mysterious half-hidden old book shop in San Francisco. Unusual characters come at all hours to rent books, which it turns out are filled with...codes.
The plot involves conflicts between Silicon Valley techies and an older generation of purists. Check out the reviews, no wonder it won Book of the Month or Year---it´s impossible to put down this whimsical but very thought-provoking book!

#8 I agree. I was gifted a Kindle, which I like. It does have its occasional benefits. But I much prefer real books. I also have a basic cell phone -- a Tracfone which cost me $107 a YEAR for service! I can´t afford, let alone even imagine, paying more than that for any cell phone service.

#25, I just finished that book and really enjoyed it.

Human intelligence reached it´s peak over 4,000 years ago when people actually had to use their brains to memorize and keep their lives organized. Then cam the invention of writing, and it´s been down hill for human intelligence ever since. And with the invention of computers and cyber technology, our collective intelligence has fallen off of a cliff. For example, just reference the recent election. That having been said, I love Kindle. I have it on my laptop and smart phone. I don´t have an actual Kindle ereader yet, but I want one badly. My eyesight is failing me, and I like the fact that I can adjust the font sizes. And my library of old paperback books and hardbacks that I´ve been collecting since I was a kid has become almost unreadable. The pages have turned yellow, the print has faded, and reading them has become just too painful to bear.

I welcome the trend to publish ebooks and look forward to some of the precedents established with digital music publishing to be applied to book publishing. The prices should be much less than for paper books because the cost of printing, copying shipping stocking of digital books is near zero and much of this savings can and should be passed on. You can give a physical book away to a friend after you read it but not an ebook yet the ebook costs more and is a waste of paper! There should be DRM free versions for a little more so that the publishers cannot withdraw books which people have already paid for as they have done already. I also like the idea of books match where you could get an ebook version of physical books you can prove you own at a nominal cost. The problem with DRM is that it cuts out options for honest purchasers while being hacked and bypassed by thieves. I don´t know what the solution to this could be.

Better dig a hole and hide those books with your guns, you bitter clingers. No alternative intellectual resources or personal protections allowed, doncha know. /sarc?

#27, why am i not surprised ;^D

I love ebooks. They have made books available to me that I could not find or afford otherwise, delivered within seconds of my request. I am able to read many times the number of books otherwise unaffordable. Now I don´t have to spend all day going downtown. This article is written by Time - I don´t read Time -- despise everything they stand for.

I had the standard NOOK and gave it to my son. I currently have a tablet with a Kindle App and love the thing. I do however still love physical books especially around Christmas time when they are really cheap. Tom Clancy´s new novel will be out soon and I´ll be buying that in hardcover.

Like others, I have both physical books and my Nook Color. The Nook is absolutely indispensible when it comes to travel (carrying several books, Sudoku puzzles and wi-fi all in one little gadget), but at home, I like to read "real" books.